Saturday, December 19, 2015

Settlement Reached In Challenge To Terms of Indiana County's Open Forum Ordinance

On Friday the Thomas More Society announced that a settlement agreement (full text) has been reached in Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Franklin County, Indiana. The suit followed the adoption of a county ordinance that, in order to insulate from challenge the display of a nativity scene, made the county courthouse a public forum for all types of expressive activities. In the suit, FFRF and the Satanic Temple objected to a provision in the ordinance that limits the open forum to county residents. (See prior posting.) Under the settlement agreement, the ordinance will be amended to merely require a local contact who works or resides in either Franklin county or an adjacent Indiana county for any unattended display.